Moon Over Buffalo
Moon Over Buffalo
By Ken Ludwig
Directed by Shelly Ackerman
Starring Larry Stallings, Denise Glickler and Marcie Schwalm
The Princess Theater, Sanford FL</strong>
A couple of generations ago, all the old vaudevillians were setting out to pasture while the smart ones jumped into TV. The days of touring quaintly names Podunks like Peoria and Poughkeepsie, and small screen variety was the future. Everyone tells this to aging trouper George Haye (Stalling) but even as the audience dries up for “Private Lives” in rep with a much reduced “Cyrano,” he won’t take his wife’s (Glickler) advice: retire or change media. His daughter Rosalind (Schwalm) bailed; she’s marring goofy but promising Howard (Anthony James) and her ex boyfriend Paul (Drew Storie) is back as stage manager. Now all we need is alcoholic bender and an unwanted pregnancy, and we can start slamming all those doors on stage.
The more doors the bigger the farce and this is a four-door comedy. The premise is sound, Stallings is pretty much what you would want in an old vaudevillian, and the rest of the cast gets off a few goods ones as well. Schwalm really looks like she wants out of show business (she’s that good on stage) but when the chips are down, the greasepaint drags her back. Glickler and Stallings act like a real married couple, not exactly in love but not exactly ready to carry out their threats even though Eileen (Ashton Symonds) feels the brunt of Stallings’ fading libido. The broadest comedy comes from seamstress Ethel (Kagey Good) she offers selective deafness and full metal elderly humor, while the silliest is clean cut Howard. This is a classic comedy, executed by a classic community theatre comedy troupe.
For more information on The Princess Theatre, please visit http://www.celerysoupsanford.com/princess-theater/
